Concrete near lake violates ordinace

LEWISTON — The Albert Township Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a variance appeal for a property located at West Twin Lake.

Several Twin Lake property owners spoke out or wrote letters opposing the cement patio at the board’s June 25 meeting.

Concerned property owners stated the patio, which replaced a previous cement patio, violates the ordinance and asked the board to deny the appeal.

“The lake cannot speak,” Greg Bador, Twin Lake property owner, wrote in a letter board member Ruth Munger read aloud. “If it could, surely it would tell you to reject the request.”

The request by property owner Steven Prain claimed the patio was a board walk. Opponents and board members agreed it was not because it was not made of wood. The township’s ordinance says the grandfather clause is lost once previous structure is pulled up.

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Munger, who sat in as chair in the absence of Phil Huber, made a motion to deny the variance request. Three board members — Munger, Walt Schlicher and Roger Cohoe — voted to deny the variance. Brad Aarons opposed the motion and Kevin Fogle abstained from voting.

“I’m going to be doing landscape work for Mr. Prain,” Fogle explained as the reason for his abstention. “Though I wouldn’t have let that affect my vote,” he added.

Cohoe remarked, “The ordinance was written after the initial patio was put in. It was taken out and can’t be put back.

“The ordinance is in hopes that over time, the property will be back (to its natural state),” Cohoe added.

Eric Render, Prain’s contractor, spoke in favor of the patio.

“The existing patio had been there for decades,” Render said. “We poured a 2-inch veneer cap.”

“I’ve brought a lot of people up here — invested a lot of money in this community. (It) makes you not even want to come up here,” he added.

Prain said he had not decided what he will do next.

“We’re trying to maintain a positive ecological environment,” said property owner Leo Schuster, who attended the meeting but did not address the board. Schuster is a member of Michigan Lakes and Streams Association, an organization that oversees the quality of the state’s lakes, rivers, watersheds and the Great Lakes.

“If we don’t have the greenbelt ordinance enforced,” Schuster added, “we’re going to turn our lakes into problems — like they have downstate.”